Card Captors - ???
by Yui and Reno
Summary: There are two new sets of cards... and with them come two new Cardcaptors. What is Sakura to do? Read about their adventures with new characters and cards... and lots of new dangers.
1. Kaita

Card Captors-- ??? (yet to be titled)

Chapter 1- Kaita

                I wasn't sure exactly where I was. All I know is that I was floating in mid-air surrounded by stars. 

                No, wait… they weren't stars; they were cards. They were purple on the back, with gold crescent moons depicted on them. On the front side, they were all different; they showed pictures of girls and animals. They were all named, and I knew every one of them. I had created them, even though I wasn't sure how. 

                I waved my hand, sending another card spinning into the sky. The final blank card appeared in front of me; all it needed was its power and name. I touched my finger to the card and its picture appeared: a girl with long hair and a fancy dress. 

                "You will be called The Crystal," I said, waving it away. The card glowed, and the words "The Crystal" appeared on the bottom. Then, I raised my arms in front of me, creating a wave of white energy between my hands. When the light cleared, a gold and violet book floated before me. The name "Kaita" was written on the front. My name. 

                "It is complete," I said to myself. "The Book of Aurora." 

                I reached out to claim my book. But before I could do anything else, my surroundings began to fade. I was fading too, but I didn't realize it until it was too late…

                When I woke up, I was back in my room. It had all been a dream… a dream I knew all too well. For a week now, I had been having a recurring dream in which I was creating a set of magical cards, much like the Clow Cards that I had been studying all my life. But this was the first time I had ever seen the book… did this mean that my dream was finally over?

                I turned over to go back to sleep… to see if I had been right about the dream. I moved my arm, and felt something hard on the other side of the bed. 

                "What the…?" I mumbled, bringing it over for a closer look. I looked at it… and gasped. 

                It was the Aurora Book. 

                I stared at it for a moment. This had to be a dream… I couldn't create a whole book of cards! I didn't have that kind of magic. And even if I did, it couldn't have been completed in so little time. Clow Reed had worked for years to develop the Clow Cards; someone like me couldn't create that kind of force in only a week. 

                Just to be sure, I opened the book. I half expected all the cards to be inside, but they weren't. The book was totally empty. This was only a dream…

                Suddenly, something shot past my face. I looked up to see the cards scattered around my room. In a spurt of shock, I reached up to take one, but they all went crazy. My window shot open on its own, and the entire set of cards flew out into the night. 

                "Wait! Come back!" I called, running to the window. But it was too late; all of the cards had escaped. 

                I sighed, and went back to my bed, picking up the Aurora Book. If these cards were anything like the Clow Cards, then the planet was in trouble. Without a controller, the cards would run wild, destroying everything in their path. This was all they knew…

                I was seven years old, living happily with my mother. She and I had stayed up late again, reading some of Clow Reed's personal diaries. 

                "I want to have my own set of cards, Mommy," I said, pointing at a rough sketch of the Windy card done by Clow himself. 

                "Your magic isn't that strong, Kaita," she told me. "Wait a few years, and maybe…"

                "Do you really think I could do that?" 

                "Kaita dear, you can do anything you want to do. The world of magic is ours for the taking," she said, closing the book.  "If you want your own set of cards, you will have them."

                I woke up again, but this time it was morning. The sun shone through my window, illuminating the whole room. I was ready to get up and go downstairs to eat, but then I remembered the book. It was still next to me on my bed. 

                "What am I going to do with this?" I asked myself, picking up the book. "If I knew how, I could find someone to be my Card Captor, but I don't know…"

                "You don't need to find a card captor," said a new voice from somewhere in my room. "You have one already."

                I looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Where are you?" I called. "And what are you?"

                "Right here," said the mysterious voice. There was a single card, floating across from me. It was The Crystal. 

                "Crystal?" I asked. With that, the card began to glow a brilliant pink, and the true form of the card appeared. Her long hair was light neon blue, and she wore a violet dress with pink and white decoration. 

                "Ah, thank you," she said, shaking the sleep out of her eyes. "Being confined in that wretched card becomes tedious after a while."

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

                "I have returned to help you, Kaita," she said, stepping closer to my bed. 

                "Okay, what are you talking about?" I asked angrily. "Help me with what?"  
                "You see, Kaita, the cards that you saw last night are yours," Crystal said. "And it is your responsibility to seal them."

                "You mean they've escaped already?" I questioned. 

                "Of course," Crystal replied. "They cannot defend themselves out in the open if they remain in their card form. You may not know it, but these cards are smarter than you think."

                "So, what can I do? If I couldn't contain them in the first place, what makes you think I can handle them now?" I asked, feeling a little bit angry that all of this was being placed in my hands. 

                "This wasn't your fault," Crystal told me. "The dream ended before you could get the cards into the book. But you are the only one with the powers to seal them."

                "I'm not a card captor," I said. "What about the Clow's card captor?"     

                "She only possesses Clow magic," she said. "The powers of your own soul created the Aurora cards, and only your powers can seal them again."

                "All right, I'll do it," I agreed. "Where do I start?"

                "Right here," Crystal said, lifting one palm in the air. A strange ball of rainbow energy formed above her hand, and floated down to me. I caught it to see that it was a blue and gold key. 

                "That is the Crystal Key," she informed. "This is what you will use to capture the Aurora cards."

                "I can feel its power," I sighed, holding the key in front of me. Somehow, the energy of the key gave me the knowledge I needed. 

                "Key of Crystal," I recited. "By the power of the Book of Aurora, I command you to surrender your strength! Release!"

                Everything was silent for a split second. Then, the key seemed to explode in a burst of white light. I shielded my eyes from the light as the key expanded into a staff. The main body was dark blue, and it had a golden moon and star on the tip. I reached forward and took it into my grasp.

                "Now, use that to seal me," Crystal requested. 

                "Okay," I agreed. I lifted the staff and pointed the golden end at Crystal. "Return to the form that you were meant to be! Crystal card!"

                With a bright flash of light, the Crystal broke down into tiny bits of energy and took its card form. It was exactly like it had been in the dream.

                "Thank you," I said, staring at the card. "You're going to help me a lot."

                Suddenly, the card began to glow again. It flashed bright violet, and Crystal took her physical form again. Sort of…

                "What happened?" asked the little girl who was sitting on my bed. 

                "I don't know," I returned. "What happened to you?"        

                Crystal looked down at herself. "I'm not sure. Why am I so small?"

                "Maybe you used most of your energy when you created that key for me," I suggested.              

                "I guess," she said. "I don't think I can stay contained in my card form for very long."

                "Then stay with me," I offered. "You can help me capture the cards."

                She stared blankly at me; she looked a bit skeptical. "Are you serious?" she asked. 

                "Well, I might need your help with something," I told her. 

                "You don't need me. You know everything about the cards," she said. "I can just hang back until the book is completed again…"

                Before Crystal could say another word, I raised my staff above her head. "No way," I said. "Even though you're just a card, I know you can help me out. In the name of the Aurora Book, I name you the first guardian of the Aurora cards."

                The staff glowed, emitting sparks of light that rained down on the chibi Crystal card. She emerged from the brilliance looking no different, but feeling much stronger. 

                "What was that all about?" she asked me, jumping on my lap and glaring at me. 

                "Well… I just thought that I didn't have a guardian like the Clow Book does," I explained. "So I figured I needed one."

                "I can't… I'm just a card!" Crystal complained. "There's no way!" 

I picked up Crystal by the collar and held her at eye level. "Yes, you can," I said. "If I didn't think you could do this, I would not have appointed you. And remember, I am your creator, so I know what's best."

"Okay, I'll try," she agreed, jumping off of my lap. I picked her up again and cradled her in my arms. 

_My own magic, I thought. __It's a dream come true. _

"Would we be able to get something to eat?" Crystal asked, looking up at me. 

I smiled. "Sure." And with that word, I carried Crystal out of my room and down the stairs, lightly slamming the door behind me. 

                                                                                ************************* 

                That night, I was lying awake in my room, staring at the Aurora Book. Ever since I had appointed Crystal my guardian, the design on the book had changed. Now, in between the moon and the ribbon that read my name, there was a sparkling violet diamond embedded on the cover. 

Crystal was lounging around on a blue, fluffy pillow that she had found while exploring my attic. "Why do you constantly stare at the book?" she asked. 

                I sighed. "I'm not sure," I said. "I guess I'm just paranoid. I wish I hadn't got stuck doing this."

                "Well, bad news," she said, suddenly jumping up to my windowsill. "It looks like we have a card to capture."

                "What?" I yelped, jolting out of bed. "It's, like, eleven o'clock! We can't go out there!"

                "Sure we can," Crystal said. "We have to get to this card before its power gets too strong."

                "All right… can you sense what card it is?" I asked, grabbing my coat off of my door and slipping it on. 

                "Sorry," Crystal sighed. "Its power is too low. I'm not getting any accurate readings."

                "That's fine," I returned. "We'll just have to find it. Let's move."

                I took Crystal into my arms and held her in my coat. She complained that it was too hot, but I reminded her that we were going outside into an extremely cold, rainy night. I zipped up my coat and held Crystal close as I ventured out into the wind. 

                "Oh! It's freezing!" she complained, hiding her face under my coat. 

                "Told you," I said with a smirk. I thought I heard her growl at me, but I wasn't sure. 

                After an unsuccessful five minutes of searching, I sat down on a soaking wet park bench. "This is impossible," I complained. "How are we supposed to find one little creature in this huge city?"

                "It's very close," Crystal informed me. "I'm guessing, probably, right below us."

                "Uh?" I said, confused, bending down to look under the bench. A brown blur raced out from underneath me, dashing into a group of nearby bushes. 

                "Okay, there's our card," Crystal said. "Couldn't see it, though." 

                "Evolve," I said suddenly. "It was the Evolve card."

                "What the…?" Crystal questioned. "How did you know?" 

                "I could sense it," I replied. "This card doesn't do anything unless it has another card to give its energy to. It will be an easy capture."

                Something in the bushes shook with fear; I could sense the emotion in its soul. I walked up to the bush and looked through the leaves. The tiny black and brown fox stared back at me with huge, innocent eyes. It was most definitely Evolve. 

                "Now, are we going to make this easy?" I asked, reaching out my hand to the card. With lightning fast reflexes, the fox bolted again, this time hiding behind the trunk of a tree. 

                "Guess not," I mumbled. "Crystal, wanna give this a go?"

                "Let's do it!" she said, jumping into my arms. She glowed, and became sealed in her card form again. 

                "Now," I said, raising the Key. "Key of Crystal! By the power of the Book of Aurora, I command you to surrender your strength! Release!" I chanted. Soon after, I was holding the sparkling blue wand. 

                "Crystal Card," I said, raising the card in front of my face. "Seal the Evolve card in a box of stone." With these words, I tapped the card with the tip of the staff, releasing the energy of the card toward the tree. Even though the Crystal card still remained in its tiny form, I could see a transparent image of the full-grown Crystal card surrounding her like a living aura. 

                Evolve began to tremble; I think somehow it knew it had been beat. With a final effort, it released a beam of light into the air before it was sealed inside the cube of diamond. 

                I stepped up to the box; I could see the tiny fox-like creature inside, trying to escape. "I'll get you out," I said mischievously, raising the staff. "Return to the form that you were meant to be! Evolve card!"

                Once again, a bright flash completely lit the area. It cleared away after a few seconds, and the card floated up to my face. I grabbed it out of the air and admired it; The Evolve. 

                With a dim burst of blue, Crystal appeared at my side. She looked very tired and worn out. 

                "Are you all right?" I asked, picking her up and shielding her from the wind once again. 

                "I think so," she said, rubbing her tiny, tender forehead. "That was wild…"

                "You shouldn't strain yourself like that too often," I said. "I'll capture some other cards soon, so you don't have to work yourself too hard."

                "I should be fine for now," she said. "I can help you capture the cards…" But at that, she fell asleep in my arms. 

                "Crystal," I sighed, rocking the tiny girl back and forth. I could feel the warmth of my magic surging through my arms, and somehow I knew that I had to finish this. It would be a long, hard struggle, but eventually the Aurora magic would be at my control again. Little did I know that there was something else coming my way… something that I could not possibly prepare for. 

                                                                                *********************** 

                Well... so far so good. Yeah, this was just chapter one. There are many more to come… don't ask, I don't know how many we're gonna write. I just hope you're patient 'cuz it's gonna be long! 

                Disclaimer: Well, I really haven't used anything from the Card Captors series yet, except for the basic storyline. Ya know, the book 'n cards 'n all. So, this was not my idea and I cannot take credit for it. Okay? So don't hurt me.  ^_^ 


	2. Spirit of Flame

Card Captors-- ???

Chapter 2- Spirit of Flame

                Crystal was still sleeping. I felt terrible… I had really worn her out the previous night. But then again, it was for a good cause. I picked up the Book of Aurora and removed the Evolve card, the first card that Crystal and I had captured together. Looking at it made me feel a little better, but not much. 

                Life was taking a major downfall. Living alone in some big mansion sounds fun at first, but wait until you have to do it for five months. I'm surprised they haven't bothered me for taxes yet. The worst part, however, is knowing that all of your family is gone. And now, I get stuck with the responsibility of capturing some wild, magical cards that I unknowingly created. Then, I go and hurt one of them. Great life, huh? 

                Just then, an almost silent stirring came from under my blanket. Crystal crawled out from under the material and waved a sleepy hello. 

                "Good morning," I said, trying to sound more cheerful than I was. 

                "Yeah…" she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm hungry…"

                I smiled. Of course, if anyone could put me in a good mood, it had to be Crystal. "If you want, I can make some waffles," I offered. "How about it?"   

                "Sounds yummy," she said, smiling happily as if she was daydreaming. 

                "You're so funny," I commented, picking her up. "Well, let's go eat."

                I had slaved over the waffle maker for a good hour now, making a huge stack of waffles for Crystal and I. I had them all piled up on a fancy, transparent pink plate; I smeared them with butter and fruit-flavored syrup and carried them to the oversized living room along with two forks. 

                "Finally," Crystal said, settling herself on the rainbow-colored beanbag chair that I had brought down from the attic. "I was STARVING!"

                "Oh, so am I," I returned, jumping onto the couch while somehow balancing the stack of waffles. Crystal grabbed a fork off of the plate and stabbed it into the stack, taking a large bite for such a small girl.

                "Yummm," she sighed as she swallowed. "You're such a good cook." 

                "Hey, don't thank me," I said. "Thank the waffle iron." 

                "Thank you, waffle iron!" Crystal yelled in the direction of the kitchen. I laughed, and almost spit out a bite of food. Once I had regained my composure, I picked up the television remote and flicked it on. 

                "Let's see," I said, rapidly channel surfing. Finally, I came across a movie on one of those higher channels; some digital monster thing.

                "Cool," I said, replacing the remote on the small table beside the couch. I sat back and prepared to indulge myself in the tasty, syrup-covered waffles. 

                "Hey, check this out," Crystal said, pointing to the screen. Just as a red creature had released a fireball from its mouth, the TV crackled, and something new came on, like a test pattern. 

                "We interrupt your morning matinee to bring you this mysterious news report," said an anchorman dressed in a gray suit. "Approximately an hour ago, a house on Tokyo Boulevard was suddenly engulfed in flames. The entire family made it out alive, but the house was not saved."

                "What?" I said in amazement, jumping up. "A fire? But everything was soaked last night in the rainstorm. How could a house catch fire?"

                "The family members say that there were no electronic devices on in the house that could cause a fire," the anchorman continued. "And there were no suspicious people in the area that could have lit it from the outside. So far, this mystery has yet to be explained to any extent."

                "Do you understand him?" Crystal asked. "He uses too many big words."

                "That's not the most important thing," I said. "It looks like we have another Aurora Card to seal. Shall we go check it out?"  

                The police were blocking off the site of the burning when we got there, so we couldn't get close enough to do any real searching. Still, I couldn't sense the card anymore, and neither could Crystal.

                "It's moved," I said, looking up at the sky. "It can't have gone far."

                "No, it hasn't gone far at all," Crystal said. "Look, there!" 

                I looked where Crystal's finger was pointing. A blue and turquoise house across the street from the burnt one was beginning to emit a cloud of black smoke from one of its windows. 

                "Hey!" I called to the police and the firemen who were standing around the burnt house. "Another fire!" 

                "Whoa," said one officer. "Get the hoses over here, pronto! We'll evacuate the house." 

                "Right," replied one of the firefighters. As the policemen ran by Crystal and I, they thanked us for warning them of the fire.

                "Be careful," I called back to them as they walked up the front step to loudly knock on the door. It turned out that the family had already escaped through the back door, so that had been a wasted effort. But as soon as the policemen got out of the way, the fire trucks blasted the house with water, saving it before any major damage was done. 

                "Oh, thank you," cried a black-haired woman who had just come from the back yard. "You saved my lovely house! I can't thank you enough!"

                "It was all thanks to these courageous girls here," said the police officer that I had spoken to. "They were the ones who saw this incident first."

                "Thank you," the woman said to Crystal and I. "I just don't know what Jessica and I would do if our house was to burn down." With these words, a young girl with identical black hair skipped out of the back yard. She looked very shaky, but relieved. 

                "Mommy, who are these people?" little Jessica asked. 

                "These brave girls saved our home," she said, cradling her daughter. 

                "Yes, you're welcome," I said. "But may I ask you something? Did you see anything strange before you noticed the fire?"

                "Sure," Jessica said. "There was a lady wearing a red outfit in the house. And she touched the wall to make it light on fire."                       

                "Now, Jessie, let's not start that again," said her mother. "There was nobody in the house," she whispered to us. "I think the smoke made little Jessie a bit confused, but she'll be fine."

                "Well," I began, but suddenly I was cut off by a loud sound coming from the house. A beam of fire shot up from the roof and disappeared into the distance, leaving the house in flames once again. 

                Jessica's mother screamed as the firefighters activated the hose again. The flames were out in no time at all, but all of the people there besides Crystal and I were very confused. 

                "Um, we have to go," I said, taking Crystal into my arms. I took off before anyone could respond, running as fast as I could toward my house. 

                "It is most definitely the Kaki* card," I explained to Crystal as we cleaned up the living room. "It's a swift card, so we have to locate it again and chase it down somewhere where we can capture it."

                "It'll be hard," she replied, eating the last of the waffles. "There must be some way of tracking it…"

                "Evolve can probably do it," I replied. "Remember, he not only gives power to other cards, he can draw power from other cards as well. Kaki is one of he four cards that represent the four main elements, which means it has a lot of energy. Evolve can track it down."

                 "Well, it's worth a shot," Crystal said. "Do we really have to clean up?" 

                "No, forget it. Let's just leave and find this card before it damages any more buildings," I finished. I quickly ran up to my room and grabbed the Evolve card and my key before Crystal and I left, locking the door of our huge house. 

                We decided to start in the area in which Kaki had appeared first, thinking that it might still be close and Evolve would be able to track it more easily. There were still a lot of people and authorities crowded around the two houses on Tokyo Boulevard, so we hung back a bit so that no one would see us. 

                "Ready?" I asked Crystal, holding the key in my hand. 

                "Go for it!" she said excitedly. I held the key higher, lifting my palm toward the sky. "Key in the name of Crystal! I, Kaita of Aurora, command you to release your powers!" I said, invoking the magic from within my soul. The key expanded into the beautiful gold and blue staff for the third time, and it floated in front of my face, awaiting my command. 

                "Evolve card!" I shouted, raising the staff to the card. "Locate the energy of the Kaki card and track it down!" With one tap, the tiny brown fox took off like a shot, jetting into a nearby field of trees. "Let's go," I called, running after the streak with Crystal following. We followed it into a deep clearing, where it stopped and pointed its body at a small creek. Frogs were jumping upon the damp green lily pads floating on its surface, and I could also see some tiny fish and bugs under the water. 

                "Water?" I said confusedly, staring into the creek. "How can the Kaki card survive in that?" 

                Evolve looked up at me, still seeming to point me toward the water. It made some sort of cute sound that probably meant, "It is there!" As if on cue, steam started rising from the water. A huge explosion surrounded us, and the _hot water splashed all over Crystal, Evolve and I. A frog landed on my head…_

                "Look!" Crystal shouted. She pointed up at a girl who was floating above the dry creek. The girl had golden hair that fell loosely around her body, highlights of crimson flowing through the locks like blood. She wore a red sporty shirt and shorts, with thin strings running down her legs to connect the shorts to flared material that almost covered her feet. Two aura-like lines of energy surrounded her body; one was of pure red light, while the other held a chain or bright rubies. 

                "Excuse me, I was resting," said Kaki angrily. 

                "You almost hurt some innocent people!" I shouted at the card. "I won't let you get away this time! Crystal, you up for this?" 

                "Okay," she said, returning herself to her card form. I picked up the card and held the tip of my staff to it, concentrating my energy into the card. 

                "Crystal card!" I commanded. "Trap Kaki in a cage of crystal! Go!" 

                The card released energy in a burst of violet light, swirling around the Kaki and creating a box. As it settled, I could see the flames blazing through the blue walls. I raised my staff to the card, preparing to seal Kaki. But before I could, the walls of crystal began to tremble and fall apart. Kaki jumped out and floated in front of me. 

                "Nice try," she smirked. "I guess it's my turn." She lifted her hand, creating a ball of fire in her palm. Then, with a single movement of her wrist, she flung it at me; it went over my shoulder, just barely missing.  

                "Whoa, okay," I said, backing up a few steps. "Crystal, where are you?"

                "I'm here," she said, swaggering up to me with a dazed look on her face. 

                _Kaki must have been too much for her to handle, I thought to myself. __I knew I shouldn't have put her up against an Elemental card. Now what are we going to do?_

_                Kaki smiled evilly, staring at the chibi Crystal card. "Is that one of us?" she questioned. "She used up all of her power on you? What a waste. Now she's just a useless little girl." As if to confirm her loathing, she released one of her fireballs at Crystal, knocking her down in a burst of heat. _

                "Leave her alone!" I screamed at Kaki. "Crystal is not useless! She's doing the best she can to help me, and that's more than I can say for you!"

                The Kaki card scowled at me, apparently enraged by the remark. "Well, I won't go back to you. I like being a free card, and I won't be confined with out a fight!" With this, she released a stream of fire in my direction, aiming so that there was no way I could dodge it. I braced myself… and felt a small wave if heat brush by me. I looked up to see a shield of diamond floating before me, blocking the flames. It was Crystal. 

                "Use Evolve," she whispered to me. "That will give me the strength I need to hold Kaki in place for you."

                "Right!" I said. The Evolve card was still sitting by the dry patch of ground, very afraid and confused. Since I had signed my name on the card, he knew he couldn't leave me, so he wasn't sure exactly what to do. "Evolve, return to me!" I called to it. Instantly, the card floated into my hands. 

                "Now, Evolve," I said, tapping the card with my staff. "Release you energy into the Crystal card!"

                Once again the brown and black fox emerged; this time he broke down into a wave of light and entered the blue shield that was still in front of me. "Now, Crystal, try again to contain Kaki!" I shouted, raising my staff. The shield expanded, coating Kaki in a blue and violet cage of liquid crystal. There was no movement from the cards. 

                "Kaki card! Return to the form you were meant to be!" I shouted, holding the golden end of my staff over the blue statue. "AURORA CARD!" All of the energy surrounding the Kaki card split and two cards floated into my grasp. I thanked Evolve and took a long look at the Kaki card, admiring its beauty. Then, I realized that Crystal was nowhere in sight.

                "Crystal?" I called, looking around. 

                "Present," said a groggy voice behind me. I spun around; Crystal was lying in a small patch of grass, half-asleep.

                "Oh… Crystal, not again," I said, taking her into my arms. 

                "I'm sleepy," she said, blinking rapidly. She fell asleep in an instant, going completely limp in my arms.  "Aww," I cooed, partly in contentment but mostly in sadness. She looked cute, but badly hurt; at that moment I felt very ashamed to call myself a card captor. 

                _This is the second time, I thought to myself as I walked out of the forest.__ If I keep up like this, __Crystal__ will lose all of her power. And then I don't know what will happen to her. _

                It was midnight, and once again I couldn't sleep. The two signed cards, Evolve and Kaki, were resting on the headboard of my bed, and Crystal was sleeping on her pillow. I looked at her, and then at the other two; suddenly I felt really angry at the cards. I had strained Crystal's abilities to the limit, all because Kaki was destroying lives and I had to stop it. This was all happening too fast for my liking. 

                I turned over on my pillow, facing the dresser on the left side of my bed. The book was sitting there, looking very innocent in the middle of a moonbeam. This was too much… As these words ran through my head, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

                It was one o'clock in the morning; the city was eerily quiet. Not a soul walked the streets… everyone was asleep in their homes or alleyways. Well, almost everyone. 

                A black streak cut across the night sky, landing swiftly atop a tall building. The male looked down upon the darkened city, grasping the long staff in his hand. 

                "What is this new power?" he asked himself, staring deeply, almost trying to see something that was invisible. He let out a short breath, like a frustrated sigh. "Well, whatever it is," he whispered, "it had better not stand in the way of me reclaiming my prize." 

                And with these words, he disappeared as quickly as he had come. 


	3. Reno and Sakura

Card Captors --???

Chapter 3- Reno and Sakura

                _The night was beautiful. Every star was visible in the sky, and the full moon shone brightly, overlooking everything. I stood alongside __Crystal__, facing a void of energy that could not be identified. Behind me stood a group of other people, but I could not see their faces in the shadows of the night. _

_                As I raised the staff to the sky, the strange energy rippled and took a physical form; a beautiful woman with a dazzling outfit, her hair curling in all directions. She did not resist as I pointed the staff to her, sealing her into a card. The card floated down to me, but the image was blurred. I couldn't tell which one it was. _

_Crystal__ lifted her index finger, creating a pen of silver glass. I took it, and signed my name on the card with the mystical silver ink. It glowed, and the card joined the others in my little silk bag. It seemed that the book was finally complete. _

                I smiled joyfully, watching Crystal glow bright violet. She slowly evolved into her adult form, with her long hair and beautiful dress. I hugged her… and promptly stepped back to hold my hand over my heart. A sharp pain coursed through my very soul.. It was nothing that I'd even experienced before. I panicked, slowly going into a state of shock. And I fell backward into darkness…

_                  _

                I woke with a cold sweat on my forehead, sitting up in bed with the blankets on the floor. I looked around the room… there was nothing unusual there. The pain in my chest was gone, and Crystal still lay on her pillow, tiny as ever. It had only been a dream. But you don't feel pain in dreams, and the sharp pain in my heart had felt so real… 

                I got up, shaking the sleep out of my eyes. The Kaki and the Evolve cards were resting on my headboard, along with the violet book with my name on it. I stared at them for a long time, my gaze eventually trailing down to Crystal. Would the cards really end up hurting me? I sighed, and walked out of my room silently, trying not to wake up Crystal as I shut the door. 

                I stood in the kitchen, mixing ingredients into the blender and trying not to think about the cards. I had laid out the pretty cups for the strawberry shakes on the counter, along with all the syrup and ice cream, only because I needed to take my mind off of that dream. But no matter what I did, my thoughts would always wander back to that brief moment of pain, and I wanted to know what it meant.   

                My tension was broken by a soft, tired voice saying, "Good morning," I spun around to see Crystal dragging her pillow into the kitchen.

                "Why are you bringing the pillow?" I asked, raising one eyebrow and turning back to my work. 

                "Oh… Sorry. What's for breakfast?" she returned, quickly discarding the pillow.

                "Strawberry smoothie okay?" I asked her, tossing another ice cube into the blender. 

                "Yummy! My favorite! What is it?" 

                I lightly slapped my forehead in disbelief. "You'll see," I told her. Then I turned on the blender… and realized one second too late that I had forgotten to put the lid on. Pink bubbles splashed all over me, and I screamed and backed up. 

                "That doesn't look very good," Crystal commented, taking a piece of a strawberry off of the floor. "Are you supposed to eat these off the floor?" 

                "Crystal…" I began, but all of a sudden, a strange chill ran up my back. It felt like one of the cards… "Hey, can you feel that?" I questioned. 

                "No. I'm not the one with ice all over my shirt."

                "Not that! I sense an Aurora card!" I explained. 

                Crystal looked up at me. "Are you sure? I don't sense anything at all," she told me. "You're sure you're not just cold?" 

                "I sense something," I sighed. "Maybe... if I use Evolve like I did last time, we can find the card."

                "Whatever you say," Crystal said. 

                After getting changed and cleaning up the kitchen, Crystal and I headed out. I followed the weird sensations to a tiny little park close to the high school that I attended. There was a huge blue slide shaped like a penguin, and a nearby sign read, "King Penguin Park." 

                "That's cute," I commented. "So, do you sense it now, Crystal?" 

                "No!" she cried. "You're crazy."

                "We'll see about that," I said, taking the key out of my pocket. I held it in my palm and recited the words: "Key of Crystal! By the power of the Book of Aurora, I command you to surrender your strength to me! Release!!"

                As I said the last word, I tossed the key in the air, catching it as it came back to me as a staff. I spun it gracefully, stepping forward with the Evolve card in my other hand.

                "Evolve!" I shouted. "Find the card that is in this area! Now, release!"

                The tiny fox came forth, but it didn't run off as it had the last time. It stood in front of me, absent-mindedly sniffing the ground. It looked up at me with a confused look in its eyes. 

                "What? You can't find it either?" I said, amazed. "What kind of card is this?" 

                Just then, I saw two figures dashing through the trees; a girl dressed in a fancy outfit, and a lion with wings. I blinked as they took off into the night.

                Wait… a lion with wings? That was definitely not normal. And I didn't remember one of the Aurora cards looking like a lion. But I could still sense overwhelming power in the area.  I watched the trees closely, watching to see if they would return. 

                As I stared off into nothing, someone else watched me from the treetops. He jumped down, landing directly behind me, and I spun around to see the teenage boy dressed totally in black. He was holding a long black staff with a golden sun on the tip.

                "Who are you?" he asked in a calm, menacing voice. "And where did these starnge cards come from?" I was about to reply, but he continued, "Well, no matter. I didn't come to deal with newbies. I'm here for Sakura. Now, get out of my way!" With these words, he pointed his staff at me, releasing a wave of blackness at me. I was out cold before I hit the ground…

                When I woke up, I wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed. I looked at my surroundings; on my left side lay the Evolve card and the Crystal Key, both returned to their original state. On my right, Crystal lay fainted at my feet. And then… I made the mistake of looking up. 

                The girl was standing there, wearing her fancy pink outfit and holding a pink staff with a golden star on the tip. Not only was she standing with her golden winged lion, but another being floated at her side: a man with silver hair, two pearl-white wings and an absolutely lovely uniform. I couldn't help but blush at the sight of him. 

                "Eli! It's you!" the girl was saying. It was then that I noticed the boy in black standing on top of the penguin slide.

                "I knew you'd figure it out, Sakura," Eli said. "I'm just surprised it took you so long." 

                "What do you want?" Sakura yelled to him. 

                "I want… to thank you," said Eli. "For giving the Clow Cards more energy for me. Now, I can reclaim them as my own."

                "Sakura is the rightful owner of the Star Cards!" shouted the lion. 

                "Keroberos," Eli hissed. "I thought you, of all people, would like to see the cards returned to their rightful place."

                Suddenly, Sakura stepped back quickly, stopping herself from falling backward. "I sense… Clow Reed," she whispered. 

                Eli smiled, raising his staff in the air. Darkness surrounded it, and it changed shape into a long, black sword. Immediately, the silver-haired man flew in front of Sakura, defending her.         

                "You will not hurt Sakura," he ordered. At the sound of this voice, I almost choked on my breath. 

                "Relax, Yue," Eli said. "I only want to challenge Sakura. If I win, I take all of the cards."

                "And if I win?" Sakura asked, holding up one of her Star cards. 

                "Then I guess you keep them," Eli said. 

                Sakura nodded. "I accept," she said. 

                "Wait, Sakura," Keroberos whispered. "Do you really think you can beat him?"

                "He does have a lot of magical powers," Sakura explained. "But not enough to beat me! Sword card!" she commanded, touching the card to her staff. Magical clouds surrounded the staff, and it emerged from the smoke as a sparkling golden sword. The blade was thin and lovely, much unlike Eli's frightening blade. 

I watched in amazement as Eli jumped down from the slide, lunging at Sakura with the sword aimed straight for her head. Sakura blocked the shot, and the blades were locked in the shape of a cross. Both fighters struggled to make the other give in, but they seemed to be equally matched. Keroberos and Yue watched the battle intently; I was the only one to notice the other person approaching the park. As he got closer, I saw that he was also dressed in black, although his outfit bore no resemblance to Eli's. He was holding yet another staff… and he seemed to be staring at Sakura. I watched carefully… he reached into a pocket and pulled out a strange black card. "Thief," he whispered, holding the tip of his strange staff to the card. "Steal the Sword from her and bring it to me. Release."

"Look out!" I called to Sakura, but it was too late. A dark cloud surrounded Sakura's sword, and it changed back to the pink staff as the blackness cleared. The black energy returned to the mysterious new boy, and the sword appeared in his hand. But it looked much different than it had before. Instead of gold, the blade was black, and the tiny wings that had lined the handle looked like black claws reaching out from his hand. 

"Finally. Back where you belong," the boy hissed. 

"Give that back!" Sakura shouted. 

"You think this card is one of yours, Sakura?" the boy asked with a laugh. "The Sword, in fact, does not belong in the Clow book. This card is one of mine."

"What? What are you talking about?" Sakura asked.

"And who are you?" Yue demanded. 

The boy laughed again. "My name is of no importance," he said. "As for the girl's question, the Sword card was not originally a Clow Card. It rightfully belongs in the Kain book, the second set of cards created by Clow Reed."

"A second set?" Sakura questioned. "Kero, do you know about this?" 

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied. "Clow Reed did create two books: the Clow and the Kain. The Kain book was his first project, but the magic was somehow infected with darkness, and the cards inside were very unruly. Clow sealed this book away, with hopes that it would never be found. But obviously, someone did find it."

"That is my fault," the boy said. "But not completely. When I found the book in my library, I knew exactly what it was, as I have carefully studied Clow Reed's records. But as soon as I touched it, it opened on its own. The cards were scattered… the only one I was able to salvage was Thief. The reason Sakura had Sword is because these cards have been free for a long time, but they have been in hiding. Except for Sword… that one likes to disguise itself as a Clow Card. But this is its true identity."

"So… what about the last Clow Card? If Sword is gone, that means there's one more," Sakura said.

"Oh, yes," the boy said softly. "I'd be on my guard if I were you, Sakura. Drain is nearing, and she doesn't seem too pleased that she's been abandoned from her book for so long."

"Drain?" Sakura said, looking up at the sky. At that very moment, a strange sensation ran up my spine. Judging by the look on everyone else's faces, they had all sensed it too. Then, out of the sky came a green beam of light, and a small girl stood in front of Sakura- the Drain card. Her hair was just as long as she was, and she was covered from head to toe in emeralds. Her outfit and hair were totally light green and pink. Her facial expression showed a variety of emotions; sadness, anger, and… a hint of relief. 

"Come for me?" she asked. 

"What?" Sakura returned. Drain repeated her sentence, but Sakura once again failed to understand.

"She does not speak in full sentences," the mysterious boy told her. "She is trying to ask you if you have come back for her." 

Drain then turned to him with a look of pure rage in her eyes. "'Koora forget," she said. "Your fault." With that, she lunged at the sword, draining some of the card's energy. 

"Get away," he said, swinging the sword at Drain. But she grabbed the blade and drew in another wave of energy, rendering the sword pretty much useless. 

"Drain, come on. Come back to the Clow book now," Sakura said. For a second, she looked backward at Sakura, almost considering her offer. But before she could make her decision, the other kid drew another card from his pouch. 

"Saiken," he commanded. "Combine with Sword the give it strength. Release."

Another black wave surrounded the sword, and it glistened with silver energy. The boy jumped at Drain, knocking her to the ground with a powerful swipe of the sword. She roared with anger, sending a flurry of emeralds in his direction. They exploded on his body with blue sparks, but they didn't hurt him as much as Drain had hoped. 

"Windy!" Sakura said, sending a card into the air. "Form a cage and trap the Drain card!" She tapped the card, invoking the Wind magic. Swirls of white encircled Drain, cutting her off from her opponent and carrying her to Sakura. "Now, return to your power, confine! DRAIN CARD!" Sakura shouted, sealing the very last Clow Card.

"Very good, Sakura," Keroberos complimented. 

"I can feel the energy," Yue sighed, taking in a deep breath. I blushed again, but my moment of pleasure didn't last long. As I let out a small sigh, the unknown boy turned toward me, immediately giving me an unwelcoming glare. 

"Who are you?" he asked, taking a slow step toward me. Everyone else was watching me as well. 

"I'm Kaita Katsy," I explained. "Now, would you mind telling me who you are?"

"I'm asking the questions," he snapped, pointing at Crystal (who was still out cold). "Now, what's that little doll over there?"

I hesitated. "That's…. Crystal," I said, hoping I wasn't making a mistake by telling them about the Aurora cards. I mean, they all had magic too… "She's… an Aurora card." 

"Aurora? Clow Reed didn't create a third book," the boy pondered. 

"I know. I kind of… accidentally created the Aurora book," I stammered. "They're my cards."

He looked at me skeptically, but eventually he realized that there was no alternate explanation. "Whatever," he simply said, completely uninterested. "Just stay out of my way."

I couldn't respond. I just watched as he turned away from me. _Some attitude, I thought to myself. I was about to turn and walk away, since I was pretty much useless to everyone there. But as I turned my head, I heard Eli speak up. "Hold on. Just how many of these Kain cards have you captured?" he asked the mysterious boy. _

"I don't see why it's your business," he replied, "but three. Sword, Saiken and Thief." 

"Only three. Useless," Eli scoffed. "Those cards should belong to me. Hand them over, and I'll take over from here." 

"Useless?" the boy said, giving Eli a stare of pure hatred. "I'll show you useless." He prepared his sword, ready to strike at any given moment. "I'm Reno, the Cardcaptor of the Kain Cards," he hissed. "You are totally unworthy of owning any magical powers. Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to show you how powerful I am." 

"Try it!" Eli shot back, holding his sword at an angle. Sakura, Keroberos, Yue and I stepped out of the way. Reno and Eli faced each other; if looks could kill, they would have both dropped dead. I braced myself… I was prepared for anything….  


	4. A New Hero

Card Captors-???

Chapter 4- A New Hero

      I circled my newfound opponent, feeling nothing but pure hatred for the fool. I can't believe that he was ignorant enough to challenge me. He would pay for this foolish decision.

      "Are we going to start this, or are we going to dance around all evening?" Eli asked impatiently.

      "Ladies first." I retorted with a dry sense of humor.

      Eli lunged forward with his, his blade his as it cut the air next to my face. I countered the blow with a quick slash that opened up his face. Eli held his hand to his face, as blood slowly ran down his cheek.

      He looked back up at me with a look of pure hatred, and took another shot. This one contacted and left a gash across my eye, a brand new battle scar. By now my patience had worn thin. I darted toward Eli, my blade aimed at his head. As I had expected, he dodged the head shot.  I swung my blade around him and sliced the back of his knees. He dropped to the ground like a rock.

      "So, have you decided to surrender fool?" I mockingly asked, pointing my sword at his head.

      "Never," Eli shot back, "As long as I have a breath left in my body, I shall continue this fight!"

      "If that's the way you want it," I said casually, "That's the way you're going to get it! 

      I stepped back in order to prepare for my next strike. The sky began to darken, as I channeled enough power to use the magic that would defeat Eli. The others watching in amazement, all wondering how I could command such a force. My sword began to glow with a blackened aura, as I felt the power rise inside me. 

      "Now taste the power of my superior technique!" I shouted at Eli, "Master of all swords, cut energy! Night sword!"

      A small orb of energy appeared over Eli's head, which had golden wings on either side. Suddenly, without warning, a pillar of orange energy shaped like a blade tore through Eli and pierced the orb. His body fell limply toward the ground. He lay there face down on the concrete, just barely breathing. His entire system was devastated by the blow. It appeared the energy was too much to bear. His life slowly ebbed away.......

      "H..how could a mere card captor have s..s.. such power?" Eli asked desperately, "What did you do to me?? I felt my power rip away from me!"

      "And that is exactly what happened." I said, "Except there is just one small detail you don't know, the fact that the power I ripped from went straight to me. I now own part of your immense magic, the magic of Clow Reed himself!"

      "You have not seen the last of me!" Eli shouted, "I will not allow a mere boy to defeat me! One day I shall return and exact my revenge!"

      With that, Eli disappeared in a flash of light. Everyone stood silent, until one small voice spoke up.

      "Thank you for defeating Eli," Sakura said, "I don't know if I could have beaten him on my own. By the way, how did you do that last technique?"

      In a calmer voice I replied, "Don't thank me, thank Sword and Saiken. If it wasn't for the sword magic held within Saiken, I myself would not have been able to defeat Eli."

      "It looks like we have ourselves a new companion, and a new hero." Keroberos said.

      "Don't get too far ahead of yourself Keroberos," I replied, " I'm just here to reclaim what is mine, that's all."

      "Fair enough." the lion said. "I just didn't realize that the Kain cards meant so much to you."

      By now Yue was so angry that he could not take it anymore. I couldn't figure out why Yue could possibly be so livid, but the anger explosion we were about to experience would explain all.

      "How dare you!?" Yue shouted, at the top his lungs I might add. "You appear out of nowhere, reveal what Sakura was supposed to learn on her own, and defeat her nemesis! What gives you the right? The struggle for the Clow cards is rightfully hers!"

      "I have the right to do as I please guardian," I said, "No one here has the power to stop me. If I want to interfere, I shall do so. And, unfortunately for you, you can't do anything to stop me." 

      After Yue heard this he was so angry, that unleashed a beam of pure light upon me. The aura it gave off made him look angelic, and I heard the new girl sigh. I flew backward into the penguin slide. I stepped forward, attempted to regain my composure. Once I did, I released a wave of darkness upon Yue, which sent him sprawling to the ground.

      "I didn't want to fight you Yue, " I commented as I walked toward him. "But you leave me no choice."

      I raised my arm to release a final burst, but Sakura jumped in the way and held me back. I was shocked at first because no one had been this close to me in years, but I quickly snapped out of it and gently pushed her aside. It did not surprise me the she wanted to end this conflict. She obviously did not want her guardian to be harmed, and I understood.

      "Please," she pleaded, "Don't hurt him. If you're going to be here capturing cards, I don't want to see any fighting amongst each other."

      I looked into the innocence and the sadness in her eyes, and decided to go her way, for now. It was the best way.

      "Fine," I reluctantly agreed. "But if he crosses me again I'm not promising anything."

      "That's all I needed to hear." Sakura replied.

      Once again all was silent, but this time it was a peaceful silence. The silence was broken by the by a small, fairy-like creature. Her face was innocent, like that of a child and she wore lovely, diamond showered green gown. Her pink hair billowed in the wind as she addressed me.

      "Well done, Reno!" She congratulated me. "I new all along that you could defeat him. He was nothing but a pushover."

      "Well not exactly," I laughed. "But I pretty much had the situation under control. By the way, Keroberos meet Siyoberos, she is the first guardian of the Kain book."

      "We have already met," Siyo replied "So cutie, how's it hangin?"

      "Why must you always mock me?" Keroberos demanded. "You even tease me when I'm in my true form!"

      "Yeah, so what? I bet in your other from your still a slave to sweets!" Siyo giggled.

      "That's true, actually." Sakura announced.

      Everybody had a good laugh, including Kaita. All seemed to be going better than I had hoped, until Kaita spoke.

      "Not to ruin the moment or anything," she quietly  said, "But do you guys ever plan on involving me?"

      I was about to reply when Eli's haunting voice appeared once more. 

      "Here is a going away present from me to you. I hope you enjoy my pet! Ha ha ha!" He laughed evilly.

      A fearsome dragon/man appeared before us, ready to kill. His head was that of a man, if you could see through his beast-like helmet. His body was red and scaly like that of a dragon, except for the fact that he walked on two legs instead of four. His tail was long and bladed, and his muscles were the size of boulders. I also didn't doubt the fact the he possessed some magical powers, after all he was created by Eli.  

      Sakura, Yue, and Keroberos moved to face the deformed creature. The prepared themselves to attack, drawing in all the magic at their command. I knocked them all down with a wave of energy.

      "No, you idiots!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. "This is my test, my fight! Eli is still challenging me by sending this creature! You have no right to fight my battle! Now stay out of my way, you ignorant fools!"

      I stepped forward to face the creature, preparing to use all the power that Sword, Saiken, and I possessed. I drew in all my strength. The deformed beast looked at me curiously, waiting for me to strike. I decided to end this quickly, before it could harm anyone. "Life is short, Bury! Stasis Sword!" At this command, three small pillars of ice fell upon the creature, stunning him. "Now to finish this!" I cried. "Cross-Slash!" I ran towards his chest and took three sword strokes. Those strokes created an x shape within a box on his back. The mark tore away from its body and the beast faded away, vanquished. I had little time to celebrate, for I fainted for having used too much power. 

      I awoke, much to my surprise, in brightly colored room. I shot up, trying to figure out where I was. I felt a wave of fatigue run through my body, and I fell back onto the bed I was laying on. 

      "You shouldn't move," I heard a familiar voice say. "You are still far too weak." I looked up to see Sakura's face staring down on me. I glanced around the rest of the room to see Yue, Keroberos, and Siyo all wondering if I was alright. Yet for some reason I looked back into the gentleness of Sakura's eyes. 

      I immediately snapped out of it and jumped to my feet. "What is going on here?!" I demanded. "What am I doing here?"

      "We brought you here after you fainted," Sakura replied. "You had used far too much magical energy, so we brought you here so you could restore your power."

      I looked in her direction. I was amazed to see the gentleness in her expression. No one had ever been this kind to me since Grandfather passed away. I couldn't believe that someone would actually do something to care for me. 

      I quickly shook of the curiousness in my face. "Thanks, but no thanks," I told the gathering. "I do not need your help, I would have been just fine on my own. I would have recovered my energies long before my body would've been discovered. Stay out of my business! Come Siyo, we're leaving." With that I opened her window and jumped out onto the nearest rooftop. Siyo followed, gracefully floating through the air.

      Why would she want to help me? I asked myself with extreme curiosity. I have never done her any favors, why would she show such kindness toward me? These thoughts crowded my mind for my entire rooftop journey home. Once I had reached my home, I simply decided to blow it off and sleep. Tomorrow was another day, and what an interesting day it would be.


End file.
